The Boston silversmith was actually accompanied by as many as 40 other men on his midnight ride to sound the alarm that the British were coming. But two years later, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington, the daughter of a colonel, rode 40 miles on her own from 9 p.m. to dawn to alert New York militia members that the Brits were burning down Danbury, Connecticut.

Gong-scourer’s Boy. Gong-scourers weren’t responsible for polishing percussion instruments; they were hired to clean the private sewers of the wealthy. Their apprentices had to crawl down into the narrowest parts of these cesspits and scoop out the stinking sludge.

Hurriers were children who worked in pairs to move carts of coal through deep, narrow tunnels. Using a chain attached to his belt, one child would crawl up the tunnel, pulling the cart, while another followed, pushing it from behind. These children worked in dark and wet conditions, spending all day in sopping-wet clothing.